Beyond the Avengers- Black Widow's story
by chrysanthemum94
Summary: What happens when Tony Stark creates a time machine, and the Black Widow gets posted to make sure nothing goes wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**Introduction**

It was, without a doubt, the most unlikely team I've ever been on. The Avengers wouldn't be together long in peacetime, I was sure. We barely fought together during war, and that was what we'd been gathered for. Part of the problem, of course, was our conflicting personalities and backgrounds.

First there was millionaire playboy Tony Stark, whose main priority in life was himself. He disliked any form of authority other than his own. Then there was Thor, a supposed demi-god who used to be as self possessed as Stark, but thanks to a pretty girl and some smart scientists was as on board with the whole "save the humans" idea as environmentalists were with "save the wales." On the intermediary level was Ian Cruder. While his morals were sometimes questionable, he usually followed orders, and used his archery for the world's benefit. Then there was Bruce Banner. Bruce was an honestly good person, who didn't know enough to make sure that no one else touched his scientific equipment. Because of an experiment gone wrong, whenever he got angry he turned into a creature known as the Hulk. As a person though, he was brilliant and caring. Finally there was Captain America, also known as Steve Rogers. Steve believed in walking the line, and following all of the rules. He had a firm belief in good people, and an willingness to sacrifice himself for others that couldn't be healthy.

I was beginning to understand Steve better by using Starks newest invention, the time machine. I'd been assigned the detail of making sure everything went as it had last time, except, if possible I was supposed to save lives that Cap couldn't know about.

My assignment started on the streets of Brooklyn. I was to tail Steve, without him ever seeing or noticing me. I was to get to know his character. The Captain America I knew started as a puny man who didn't know when to leave well enough alone. With the war going on in Europe, he refused to accept that he was unable to join any form of military. When someone was disrespectful of soldiers in a movie theater, it resulted in a fight in a back alley. Steve, being tiny, got the worst of it. I doubt he even noticed, but even then he had an affinity for shields.

When he finally made it into the military, I chose to skip to his next step. I moved to London and joined the scientific reserve as a secretary. Let me just say now, it was difficult to have my skills and try to blend in to a pre-feminist century. I became Angela Barnett, who, if I'd ever met her, I would have walked away quickly, and tried to ignore her. I only saw Steve as the actor "Captain America" once, and that was near the end of his career as a stage performer. I was a secretary when he enquired about his friend who was missing. I watched him leave to go rescue the soldiers of the 107th. Later, I was one of the secretaries who recorded his successes over the organization known as Hydra. In order to blend in, I had to pretend to be halfway in love with him.

When I heard they were close to Hydra's scientist, I got myself moved to a discreet area much closer to the alps. I was on the train he attacked that day. I was close enough that while his best friend, Bucky, clung to the side of the train, I managed to hook a carabineer to his harness, turning his fatal fall into a bungee experience, which left him with only a few minor injuries in comparison. He was however injured enough that I was able to use it as an excuse to keep him from the action until after Captain America's fateful dive into the Arctic. I think he thought I was crazy, when as he left my base I told him he'd probably see Steve within the week, but I knew enough about Steve to knew he'd bee here soon enough.

My original job was technically done, but some of the things I'd seen during this original job pointed to extraterrestrial interference in this war, which was unacceptable as far as I was concerned. Two months later, I returned to the main army camp before Steve did. I'd found a way to locate extraterrestrial ships, and found that they corresponded with the remains of Hydra's resistance. I assumed another name so that I could communicate with the military and be taken seriously. I never approached the actual general, because I knew what he thought women were capable of, and whatever else I might be, I'm still a woman.

By the time Steve Rogers actually did show up, I was once again very integrated into society. I knew I had Director Fury and Tony Stark to thank for the delay in time, and once again I appreciated the thoroughness of the people I worked for. I managed to find a way to relay information to Steve and Bucky, through one of the people on their team, without them ever actually seeing me, which would have been awkward, because the both new my face, but under a different name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story **

**Chapter 1**

It was months into my assignment that I heard the tell tale fuzz on the radio, and knew that the aliens were involved with the Hydra station where "the Howling Commandoes" as they called themselves were attacking. I was, fortunately, in the radio room at the time. I slipped out to "check the lines".

I quietly pulled off my skirt suit, and unrolled the assassins cloths underneath. They were my traditional black, and I felt more like myself just wearing them. It was a foggy morning, and I had to weave between trees for what felt like too long before the base came into view. My training kept me behind trees as I approached the back gate, the opposite one from where the boys were attacking. Most of the guards were around front, but there were two in positions on the inside of the gate. I pulled out a short dart stick from it's place hanging from my hip, and the darts from the pouch on my belt. My dart hit the wall just out of their sight, but fortunately within their hearing. They both went to investigate, and I slipped in behind them. The first thing I saw was the alien ship. It was designed to look a little like a shed just outside of the building, but I didn't know many sheds with a retractable ramp leading to the main building and aliens unloading supplies from. I knew from past experience that the crates they were unloading would be full of weapons.

As far as I could tell there were only a few crates unloaded, so my first step was to pull a grenade of my belt and set its timer. I slipped behind an alien loading food onto their ship, and slipped the grenade into the box, and then I slipped back into the cover behind a truck. Twenty seconds. The alien walked into the ship. Fifteen seconds. Another Alien entered after him. Ten seconds. He was probably at the back of the ship, putting the crate down. Five Seconds. Steve Rogers walked out of the building, looking at the ship with incredulity. Four Seconds. I stood there in shock. Three seconds, He was still approaching the ship, and I I made a decision. Two seconds, I launched myself from behind the truck, and he froze. One second, my body hit his, fortunately he wasn't well braced, and my force was enough to knock him over. Detonation. We were just below most of the shrapnel, though I heard one piece hit his head. My back got the worst of it though, with the heat causing blisters to rise immediately, and I felt a few of the smaller pieces of shrapnel run along my back, cutting it up. Fortunately it was a quiet blast, so my eardrums didn't pay the price with the rest of me.

When we hit the ground I couldn't move for a minute. When I heard the gasp behind me, I returned to my senses, and did a quick summing up of the damage. My back was sore, but as far as I could tell there were only surface wounds. I'd twisted my ankle, and my shoulder was out joint from the force of hitting Steve. He appeared to be unconscious from whatever had hit him. I felt his for a pulse, and it was as strong as ever. He started to stir, as a string of swearwords burst out behind me. His eyes opened as I came to my feet, and he looked confused as I looked down at him.

Then I darted behind a truck, just as Bucky came out of the building. In front of him stood the Asian of the group, who gave me an almost imperceptible nod. He was my contact in their group, and knew better than to point me out.


	3. Chapter 3

I managed to lessen my punishment to more deskwork. I was fine with that, because it would keep me away from the hotspots for a little while. The best part was though, that it worked. At least until a blast from my past decided to show up.

At this point I think it's necessary to give you a little piece of my past.

When I was five and a half, and orphaned, I was wandering the streets of a Russian city that I try not to name. I was thieving, when a man named Drakov found me. I was good at what I was doing, so he decided to take me under his wing. I didn't know who he was then, but even then I'd heard of his organization. You've probably never heard of a group known as The Nine Rings. They are known in Russia, but rarely anywhere else. They liked it that way, because it made it easier to do their job. Our job back then. It's easier to infiltrate Governments, and assassinate world leaders when they don't know you exist. I was trained in their methods with two others, and they made me everything I am today. Their names were Alexandria and Damon.

I was playing secretary for a military meeting, which meant that all of the people who knew me where there. Steve and his boys were oblivious enough that I wasn't worried until the General introduced the new assassins the Government was hiring. I'm not exactly sure how they ended up in WWII Germany, but I knew Alex and Damon well enough that the haircuts and different makeup jobs were not enough to keep me from recognizing "Sarah" and "Jacob."

When the General called me forward, I already mentally had my resignation papers on his desk. I handed him the papers and was walking away again, by the time "Jacob"s gun was prepared.

"Ms. Barnett," barked the General, and I turned around. Now the boys were finally paying attention to details, and I heard the gasps as I turned around.

"Yes, Sir?" I asked innocently, just before the boys started speaking.

"Bessie?"

"Agent Romanov?"

Thankfully my inside man knew better than to acknowledge me. The whole tent was already staring at me and only three of my many names had come to light here. I just smiled

"Hello Bucky, Captain Rogers, Sarah," I said, almost smirking at the new name for her. Then I looked to Damon. "Put the gun down, 'Jacob'," I said letting my eyes turn cold. "You know how this will go if you keep your gun pointed at me."

"Yes," he said, and then pointed his gun up, and un-cocked it. "But it was worth a try." His humorless eyes watched me intently, waiting for me t try to kill him.

"Bessie?" Asked Alex. I never really understood Alex. She was good enough to keep in training by the masters, but it never seemed to me that she ever took anything seriously. She was a flirt, but could kill a man even after romantic attachment. She was amused by my latest pseudonym.

"Sarah?" I asked in the same tone that she'd said my name.

"I think it suits me," she said snippily, and then gave a half smile.

"I can only have so many good names in the rotation at once," I said, smiling. Everyone looked back and forth between us.

"So, I'm confused," she said, "Are you Bessie Romanov Barnett?" Then her mischievous smile. "Or are you Romanov Bessie Barnett?"

"I'm Bessie Black," her lip twitched at the familiar addition to my name, "Natasha Romanov," she rolled her eyes at the name she'd heard a million times, "and Angela Barnett."

"Oh," she said, "an original name in there. Do you ever have a middle name?" She asked giving me a look. As I said, she never took anything seriously. Her ID's had obviously not been compromised. _Even if it had been, she wouldn't have cared_, I thought to myself.

"I don't like my middle name," I said. I managed to keep a perfectly straight face. She rolled her eyes.

Finally the General found the time to interrupt. "Do you two know each other?" He asked stiffly.

"No," we both said simultaneously, and then exchanged looks.

His eyes narrowed. He wasn't impressed. "Ms. Barnett, would you like to explain to me why exactly you have more than one name?"

"I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you," I said. Then the "radio" at my waist beeped, and I nodded to everyone in the room, and turned on my heel. Everyone in the room was in shock, and the General tried to call me back, but I had business to take care of.


	4. Chapter 4

**I still don't own these characters, except for the one.**

_These guys were warned, _I thought grimly to myself as the second of the two aliens fell to the ground. My back smarted from where his weapon had cut me. I couldn't tell exactly how big it was, but I knew I'd need stitches. At this point I was actually somewhat glad Alex was here. She could stitch me up easily, and she wouldn't ask too many questions.

I'd left the military camp right after the episode with all my names coming to light. I'd put on my uniform and tracked down the aliens with little problem. When I'd come upon them though, they weren't surprised. They had weapons out within an instant, and I'd turned out to be the one surprised. Hence the new injury on my back. Of course, even when I'm taken by surprise, I can still recover quickly

When I finally made my way back to camp, it had started raining, and the salt water was doing my back no good. I walked quickly to my tent before I started looking for hers. I found Alex's tent pretty quickly; it was one of the only new ones in the area, and walked in talking. "'Sarah' can I have some help?" When I finally made it inside, I saw that she wasn't alone. Peggy, Steve's girlfriend, was apparently briefing her. Oh, this would be fun to explain.

"Ms. Barnett," said Peggy coolly.

"Agent Carter," I greeted her back, just as cool.

"What do you need help with?" asked Alex from the bed. She was cross-legged on the bed wearing what looked like sweats, with her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Peggy. I didn't really want to explain my injury to either of them, but I had to get it taken care of as quickly as possible.

"Do you still do stitches?" I asked.

"Yes," she said rolling her eyes, " I still do stitches. Why do you need them?"

"I had a fight with a moose," I said, handing her the needle and thread before sitting in front of her. Agent Carter's eyebrows flew up toward the ceiling, and I raised my eyebrows at her, daring her to challenge my story. She let it slide.

It wasn't until dinner, eating in the mess that she brought it up again. She was good at what she did, because she knew just when to bring it up at the worst possible time. I was grabbing my meal, so I had to pass the table where she and most of the boys, including Steven Rogers, sat.

"Angela, or whatever your name is," she said, so they all turned to see me, "How's your back?" She asked, and I've never found a British voice to be so annoying before.

"Fine, thank you," I said calmly, before turning back to my task.

There was no way for that to just slide by, and I heard Steve ask her "what happened to her back?"

"She ran into a moose," she said with her voice mocking. I knew they were all looking at me now, so I turned, gave them a tight smile, and then walked away to eat my meal.


	5. Chapter 5

**I still don't own the characters, in case you were curious. I probably won't any time soon either.**

Of course he hunted me down later. Of course Captain Steven America Rogers couldn't just let it go. He had to know what was going on. One day he would figure out that he didn't always want to know what was going on around him, but for today I had to deal with his inquiries.

When he found me, I was actually doing what I was supposed to be. I was doing secretary work, and believe me, there are many things that I would have rather been doing. The women around here hadn't yet discovered that pencil skirts and heels were torture devices thought up by men to make women as uncomfortable as possible, so their secretaries still wore them.

"What on earth are you doing here?" asked a voice behind me, and I recognized Steve's voice.

"Secretarial work," I said, turning to put papers behind me, and glancing up at him. "You know there's more to wars than just fighting right?" I knew he was looking at me incredulously.

"I am aware," he said, and stepped between my next set of papers to sort and I, so that I had to look at him. I just raised my eyebrows at him. "But what are you doing in the middle of World War two?" He asked, looking intimidating.

"As I said, secretarial work," I said, and stepped around him.

"But why here? Why are you doing Secretarial work? From what I understand, that's not your area of expertise," he said, turning and grabbing the paper from my hands.

"I think I'm doing all right with it, when I don't have people standing in my way," I said, taking the papers back from him.

"That's beside the point. Why are you in my time to do secretarial work?"

"Oh, getting possessive about the time period are we?" I asked putting papers away in stacks. I felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to inhale sharply; it was right on my wound.

He didn't notice my discomfort, but just turned me to face him. "Natasha, why are you here?"

"Because, it's my job," I said, preparing myself to fight my way out of here. "When Fury says go; I go."

"All right," he said, "if you won't tell me any more than that, will you at least tell me what happened to your back?"

"The same thing that happened to the shoulder you're grabbing," I said, pushing his hand off my shoulder. He looked to my shoulder in shock. "As Ms. Agent Carter said, I ran into a moose." I over emphasized the point, but my back and shoulder were both throbbing, and I felt no need to be particularly charitable to the man who'd just grabbed me.

I walked away. It's what I do best. I leave the situations I don't want to be in. Sometimes it took more than just "walking away" to get out, but I could do what it took.

**I'd really appreciate it if you'd comment. Let me know how it sounds.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I still don't own the characters, but I'm starting to have a lot of fun with them. **

It was while I was walking out in the woods that the device fell in front of me. I was still trying to check my anger, so it shocked me when it fell. I tucked and rolled away, cursing the pencil skirt and heels that restricted my movement.

I didn't know what it was, but things falling out of the sky in my reality were usually alien related, so I stayed back. I was among the trees when the hologram appeared, and sure enough, it was an alien. It looked right at me, and apparently it transferred my image back, because the creature smiled.

It gave me the willies when it started to speak. I don't know who taught this guy English, but it didn't sit right in his mouth. "So this is the famous Cobra. I thought you'd be taller."

"How original," I said, standing.

"We want to discuss a possibility for peace."

"All right. Keep your trash of my planet and I won't blow it up for you," I said rolling my eyes."

"I have a better idea. We destroy you and then we have absolutely no challenge in this world," and then I had to dive away. The hologram disappeared, and I saw the aliens behind him, one of whom was holding the weapon that had just discharged the fireball I'd just dodged.

"Right, I said and then launched myself on them."

Looking back on the fight, I'm pretty sure they were planning on killing me with that first blast. Even if that blast didn't kill me, I'm pretty sure they weren't expecting me to launch myself at them. They were unorganized, and did part of my job for me, accidentally shooting each other. Needless to say, I won the fight. However, from what he said I knew there was more coming. So, after searching through the bags they'd dropped, and doing the best I could to make their job seem done, I went back to camp.

I quickly changed into my uniform, but I couldn't find my shoes. It was about then that I found the not on my bed. It was from Alex.

"_Angela,_

_Sorry, I borrowed your shoes, but I needed to be taken seriously today. I can't look too girly, and, well, to be quite frank, your shoes aren't at all girly. If you need them, I'm with all of your friends. Have a good day._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Sara_"

"Great," I said under my breath, and then grabbed a pair of her shoes that she'd left when she'd come to grab my shoes. A quick glance at them told me they were expensive shoes, probably Gucci, and worth hundreds of dollars.

I put in a distress signal

It didn't take long to find them. They were in a very official meeting, but another of the communicators had apparently just fallen from the sky, because my creepy friend appeared again. "Hello people. We thought you ought to know that the one you call Cobra has been denying you a great opportunity. Now that she is out of the way, I will proceed to present my case."

I cleared my throat, loudly, and they all looked at me including the alien. His eyes went wide. "Impossible," he said, shocked.

"I was hoping for something original this time," I said, just before putting the four-inch heel into the technology, killing the hologram. "I mean seriously, 'I thought you'd be taller', and 'Impossible.' He could have at least tried for something original this time." Alex looked amused, but everyone else looked shocked. "I need my shoes back," I told her.

"But I like the shoes," she said, giving me a look that dared me to ask.

"Well, as much as I love these four inch Gucci heels, they don't strike me as the best thing for getting into the kind of mess that I'm going to. I don't think the dry cleaner takes green goo out of 300-euro shoes, and it would be such a shame to ruin them. That's why I wear black. It doesn't show stain."

"That, and it's your signature color," she said slipping out of my shoes.

"There's always that," I said slipping into my shoes. I leaned down and was tying them when my phone rang. I clipped my Bluetooth on my ear, and hit the button before turning back to my shoes. "Yeah."

"It's Tony. What is the distress signal for?"

"I need backup," I said, finishing tying my shoes. "So if you could get here ASAP, I'd really appreciate it."

"I'm kind of in the middle of something," he said in typical Tony fashion. Annoying to a fault. I heard the ship fly over my head, and while it was no louder than the average helicopter, I had a bad feeling. Most of their ships ran silently.

"Well how do you feel about existing?" I asked, catching a glimpse of Stark senior in the corner.

"Excuse me," he asked, confused.

"Do you like existing, Rich Boy? Because with where and when I am, if I go down, you don't exist. So, I'd suggest you get here, and bring Flyboy, Hawkeye, and the Other Guy. I don't think I can do this alone."

**Let me know how it is. I'd appreciate it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I haven't gotten rich enough to buy out the characters in the last little while, so I still don't own them.**

I hung up on him, and stood up, ready to go. Steve stood in my way. His arms were crossed, and he looked at me in a way that was half question and half demand.

I just put my hands on my waist.

"Where are you going Natasha?" he asked pointedly.

"Oh, are we on a first name basis now, Steven?" I asked, pointedly. He didn't answer, and it felt a little like a showdown, with everyone watching to see what we would do. "Look, Cap, sometimes you don't want to know what I'm up to," I said. "You're already fighting one war. You don't need another one." His eyebrows rose.

"But it sounds like I've already got one," he said.

"Not while I'm involved," I said, and then slipped around him out the door. "All though I could use a boost." I looked back, and he was giving me a withering look. "Or I could climb a tree," I said. He stepped out of the tent and held his shield in a position to launch me.

"Where exactly are you going?" He asked, and it sounded like a last ditch attempt to get any kind of information out of me.

"It may not look like it, but I've got friends up top, who wouldn't know how to be original if it hit them in the head." He raised his eyebrows, as I ran, stepped onto a 6v bucket in the area, and then jumped onto his shield. Next thing I knew, I was in the air. I saw the bottom of the ship's cargo bay, and reached my hands up, and just managed to catch the bottom in front of me. I heard shouts below me, and then I slipped into the cargo hold.

My first goal was to find their leader. I figured with him being as unoriginal as he was, his stronghold was in the middle of the ship. First I took care of the ones closest to me. I saved my best weapons for when I passed big groups.

"Where are you oh preserver of human kind," came Tony's voice over the communication unit attached to my ear.

"Taking care of business," I said, and threw my first flaming bomb. The world suddenly burst into flame around me, and I cursed my own stupidity. I'd known the aliens technology was flammable. I'd taken out enough of them in armor and cremated them following that I should have remembered.

"Holy…" started Tony's voice on the intercom. He finished it, but I was sprinting back the way I'd come.

There were alien soldiers before, and a wall of flame behind me. And I was alone in this heck-hole. "What is going on up there?" came Steve Roger's voice. Tony must have wanted him involved. I sprinted around another corner and my heart sank at the sight.

A wall of soldiers stood before me. "Steven, is Sarah near you?" I asked, sounding calm. My heart was beating in my throat.

"Yes, why?"

"Tell her my cat inherits everything, and if she wants to see one cent she has to take responsibility for the cat."

"What on earth are you talking about Agent Romanov?"

"I don't think I'm going to make it out of this one," I said simply.

"What makes you think that?" interjected Tony.

"The wall of soldiers in front of me, and the wall of flame behind me," I said. Then I started running for the soldiers. The flame is right on my tail. I can feel it's heat, and I know I won't outrun it. Then the breath was knocked out of me, and I felt myself flying through the air.

I looked up, and saw that Tony Stark as Iron Man had me under one arm. We landed in an otherwise empty area of forest, and watched the ship crash land. "I thought you needed help," he said.

"So did I, I said quietly. He then nodded to me, and took off, back to our time. I started trudging through the forest. When I made it back to the camp, there were soldiers all along this side of the forest. Directly in front of me stood Steven, Peggy and Alex. Peggy looked confused. Steve and Alex both were looking at me inquisitively. "There's a fire back there." I said. I knew I looked like I'd been run over by a semi, but I just ignored the looks, and walked past them.

"Ms. Barnett!" said the General's voice, ever business. "You have a whole heap of paperwork to fill out."

"You have no idea," I said, and stalked back to my tent. There would be evasive paperwork here and explanatory paperwork for S.H.E.I.L.D.. After that either I or someone else would be stationed here to make sure the aliens really were all goine. Right now though, I decided to catch up on sleep.

I had only been there about ten minutes when Steve walked in. "Do you want to tell me what on earth happened back there?" he asked, gesturing to the wood.

I opened my eyes and looked at him. "No. I'm just going to sleep?"

"Agent Romanov!"

"Captain Rogers. I just took care of an enemy as well as I could, and nearly died in the process. You can ask me more about it tomorrow. For now I'm going to bed," I said, glaring. "If you remain for much longer I'm likely to get aggravated. Good night." He nodded and walked out. I fell asleep.

**Sorry it's been so long since posting. College has been absolutely crazy. Let me know what you think of this newest chapter.**


End file.
